Explain the myth of pre-history.

The "myth of pre-history" is an idea used by some scholars
of indigenous, non-European cultures.  It is an idea that is used to combat the
Eurocentric idea that only Europeans (and possibly a few others) were truly able to
create history and civilization.

Scholars who talk about
this myth argue that Europeans see other cultures as backwards and primitive.  Europeans
see cultures that did not develop literacy and, thereby, written histories and they say
that those cultures are primitive and less developed than those (largely European)
cultures that did create written histories.

By calling this
the "myth of pre-history" scholars are arguing that pre-literate societies that had no
written history were not more primitive than other societies.  They argue that this myth
has simply been created as a way of justifying European dominance of other
cultures.